Heritage’s Keegan Painter takes big steps toward fire service with Pakland’s ECCA program

BY DANI TIETZ
dani@sjodaily

It’s not enough for four Champaign County seniors to stand outside the fire.

These young men aren’t just waiting with senior fever for graduation day. They aren’t hoping that there is something to do after school. They aren’t just waiting for the right opportunity.

Heritage’s Keegan Painter, Champaign Central’s Andrew Trame, Centennial’s Jordan Alexander and Kaleb Konstanty, who has been homeschooled, decided that they would jump into the flames during their senior year.

Almost quite literally.

For Painter and Konstanty, being a firefighter has been something they’ve thought about since they were little boys.

Painter’s dad is on the Champaign Fire Department and his brother is a volunteer with the Eastern Prairie Fire Protection District.

All four of the high schoolers are part of the Illinois Cadet Fire School Explorer Program, which gives students the opportunity to experience the fire service as a possible career. The participants train in hands-on opportunities that teach them how to safely manage a fire and themselves during a fire.

But their commitment to learning more about firefighting has not stopped there.

Alexander, Painter, Trame and Konstanty committed to one year in the Parkland Early College and Career Academy where they can learn more about their desire to become a firefighter or an EMT.

The semester-long Fire Science and EMS Health Professions programs are a pilot program that provides students with an opportunity to look at potential careers or volunteer opportunities while also earning college credit for free.

The Fire Science program, running in the fall semester, is three credits and the Health Professions, running in the spring semester, is a five-credit course.

Students attend Parkland from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. before returning to their respective school to finish out their graduation requirements.

A little more than halfway through the Fire Science program, there have already been takeaways that will last their lifetime.

Alexander said that while they do hands-on training, including getting into full-gear after a pager call and climbing through studs to get to another room, the course helps them take a deeper look than what just doing allows.

“It’s also books, so you understand it and get the other side of the material,” he said.

Alexander said the training has also helped them to understand the structure of a building, how to work with children during a fire and how to protect themselves if they were to enter a fire.

Trame said that he took a lot from doing a fire assessment in his own home. He knows now that he can take that knowledge, prepare a plan and educate others how to do so, too.

Painter, who works alongside his classmates as a cadet at the Eastern Prairie Fire Protection District, turns 18 in November. At that time, he could be voted on as a volunteer.

Currently, because of his age, he can’t go into a fire, but may be able to help with exterior work or go to the station to help prepare the firefighters getting out the door.

Among the responders in the cadet program, Painter is near the top of the list, even though he is not required to respond.

Through the ECCA program, he has learned that his safety is important, too.

The group has worked on searching techniques, how to find victims and how to work as a team to remove them.

“It’s important to learn how to keep yourself safe because if a firefighter goes down, resources are going to be pulled to help, and taken away from the victims,” Painter said.

Konstanty said that the program is a good introduction to being a firefighter before it gets serious.

He said that he is interested in becoming a firefighter at some point in his life, but coming out of high school, he’d like to begin his career as an EMT.

Once students complete the health professionals course, they are eligible to become state-licensed, and once they turn 18, can run calls.

Trame said that the fire program has ensured that becoming a firefighter is the career path he wants to follow, but he thinks he will take his skills to the Air Force.

No matter where the students go next, the ECCA program is preparing them for a competitive professional market.

Salaried firefighter positions are scarce, only opening every couple years. With hundreds of applicants, only a select group is chosen for interviews and typically only a handful are hired.

The ECCA program hopes to give those committed students a leg-up on college with the credits, but also to show employers that the students put in the time and effort early on to engage in their future career.

At the same time, as an abundance of firefighters compete for jobs, there is a shortage of volunteer firefighters, especially in rural towns.

Nearly 70-percent of all firefighters nationwide are volunteers. With a lack of those volunteers, departments are consolidating, which delays call response times.

While the ECCA students may be working towards a paid position, they could take their training to the next step when they turn 18 and become a volunteer.

Jumping in with both feet prior to entering adulthood has been a good experience for Alexander, Painter, Trame and Konstanty.

“You never know when that call is going to come and you always have to be ready,” Alexander said.

To learn more about the programs offered through Parkland Early College and Career Academy, visit their website.

To learn more about becoming a firefighter cadet within your community, visit the Illinois Fire Service Institute.